Ruckus over cartoon issue distrupts Parliament

NEW DELHI: Parliament was disrupted on Friday over a cartoon that Shankar drew in 1949, and which was republished in a Class XI text published by the National Centre for Educational Research and Training.

The cartoon depicts BR Ambedkar seated on a snail, named Constitution, and Jawaharlal Nehru trying to whip the snail to make it move faster.

As soon as the Lok Sabha met, BJP members accused home minister P Chidambaram of breaking House rules when he read out his son's statement in the House on Thursday. But they were stopped in their tracks by Thirumaavalavan Thol, the only MP of Tamil Nadu-based Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, who stormed the well of the House.

He raised slogans indicating the cartoon was an insult to Dalit icon Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution. Members from BSP, Samajwadi Party, RJD and Congress soon joined Thol, demanding that action be taken on the matter.

Among the protestors was Congress' PL Punia, who had in April met human resources minister Kapil Sibal to demand that the cartoon be removed from the textbook.

The ruckus over the cartoon issue in both Houses ensured that Chidambaram did not have to make any statement on allegations about his family's involvement in the controversial Aircel-Maxis deal. Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal argued that the home minister did not break any rules.

There was uproar in the House when Thirumaavalavan demanded the resignation of HRD minister Kapil Sibal over the issue. The human resources development ministry had already sorted out the issue even before the issue was raised in the House.

However, the demands over action against those who had included the cartoon in the textbook meant no business was conducted in either House.

Adjournments till the post-lunch session, when private members' bills are taken up, meant that no government business could be taken up on Friday. Except in this case, HRD minister Kapil Sibal made a statement explaining the facts of the case.

Sibal had on April 26 directed NCERT to remove the cartoon from the textbook, which was currently being printed. Continuing protests resulted in the adjournment of the Lok Sabha.

In the Rajya Sabha, BJP demanded suspension of question hour citing notices given by Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley and Prakash Javadekar. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla informed that clarifications could be sought from Chidambaram at 12.

The matter settled the House moved on to its regular business of Question Hour. Protests over the cartoon began in the course of a response on a question on OBC students. Even when Sibal wanted to make a statement explaining the facts of the case, protesting MPs led by Brijesh Pathak of BSP refused to let him speak, saying that the House would not function till the guilty had been punished.

Later in the day, NCERT text book advisors Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palashikar resigned in the wake of the cartoon row. The textbook, Indian Constitution at Work, has been in use since 2006, when Arjun Singh was HRD minister.

RPI's Ramdas Athavale had raised objections over this particular cartoon in early April and a group of Congress MPs, including PL Punia had met Sibal in April asking for its withdrawal. Following these demands, on April 26, Sibal had asked NCERT to remove the 'objectionable' cartoon from the textbook.

With a new academic session just about to begin, books were being printed and this corrective measure was taken. The ministry also asked NCERT to set up a committee to look into the use of cartoons and ensure no objectionable cartoons were used.